Top 5
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FOI exposes RAAF Growler rip off
In March 2023, the Australian Defence Department confirmed the arrival of an F/A18G Growler aircraft to replace a similar aircraft which was destroyed in January 2018 while on a training exercise. It had flown less than 120 hours. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofan engines. According to the Royal Australian Air Continue reading »
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The creeping shadow of army rule – Asian Media Report
In Asian Media this week: Big economies talk about rules-based order. Plus: empire strikes back in Imran Khan showdown; hot Asian summers will add to climate change; US return to Philippines sparks sex abuse fears; Gandhi bests Modi in latest test; post-poll scenarios after progressive victory in Thailand. Continue reading »
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Australia’s real status as a submissive ally
Like the occasional failure of a president to pronounce the name of our prime minister, US President Joe Biden cancelling his attendance at the QUAD is a reminder that America needs to balance bilateral relationships with 192 nation states and that up to 20 flatter themselves that their relationship is a special one. Continue reading »
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Call for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal
The Australian Government has announced a four-decades long deal to acquire American and British nuclear-powered submarines, at an indicative cost of $268 billion to $368 billion. Continue reading »
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Passing of Tony Pun a great loss for all Australians
Prominent Chinese community leader, Dr Anthony “Tony” Pun died last night in Sydney, aged 77. In 1989 he came to public prominence when he lobbied then prime minister Bob Hawke to allow Chinese students to remain in Australia, in the wake of the crackdown on Chinese student protests that led to the Tiananmen Square incident. Continue reading »
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Richard Marles’ ‘seamless’ transfer of Australian sovereignty
Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles opened with an anecdote praising a former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner. It was an interesting choice given the tax leaks scandal engulfing PwC, which is making headlines globally, and last week forced the resignation of its Australian CEO. Continue reading »
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The colonisation of the Australian strategic imagination
Interrogating the public record provides a fundamental challenge to the integrity of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR). It comes in the form of a reality which few wish to acknowledge: the captive Australian strategic imagination – a phenomenon of which Peter Dean, Head of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney and Continue reading »
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Climate breakdown, extinction and ‘The Most Stupid Boast’
In a recent Guardian advert pleading for readers to hand over money to the paper, leading columnist Marina Hyde declared: ‘My absolute favourite thing about the Guardian is not being told what to write.’ Continue reading »
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The crooked timber of an unhappy, dangerous American Empire
Sealed inside its bubble, America today is steadfastly walking the unhappy, steady and confident gait of the Soviet Union. Continue reading »
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Calvary hospital unresponsive? Yes, Chief Minister
Canberra’s Calvary Hospital is to be compulsorily acquired by the ACT Government, charged by Chief Minister Andrew Barr with being, amongst other things, unresponsive. Continue reading »
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White Man’s Media: Anti-China media beat ups continue…
This time over possible Chinese naval bases in the South Pacific. Continue reading »
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AUKUS, Assange, and the “seething pathologies” of the American Security State
We are permitting ourselves no character of our own under the architecture of the Alliance. It means we’ve accepted the status of a kind of client state, or American territory. I won’t say the 51st state. It means we’ve got even less independence than a US governor would have, former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr Continue reading »
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This is the budget of a government that wants to be loved by everyone
The best word for this budget is “complacent”. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s keeping us from getting further into trouble. But it’s doing little to deal with the many troubles we already have: the transition to renewable energy, declining home ownership, the rental crisis, and problems with Medicare and education. Continue reading »
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Demonisation and the US encirclement of China
“It’s quite clear from recent policies that the US aims to curb China’s economic development and encircle the country with military bases in unfriendly (from China’s viewpoint) countries. Such demonisation only reinforces repressive trends in China and benefits security-obsessed hardliners in China’s political system. That’s why “de-demonisation” can help those in China who favour a Continue reading »
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Health budget has big changes – reviving our worn-out Medicare fee-for-service system and boosting bulk billing
There were four major changes for health care in the 2023-24 budget: prioritising primary care, funding to strengthen Medicare, cheaper access to common medicines, and new funding to keep the digital health system going. Many of these changes were foreshadowed in recent weeks. Continue reading »
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Is NSW education in for big changes? Let’s hope so
With the NSW election behind us the media is mulling over what Labor has in store for the premier state. The Sydney Morning Herald recently unpacked the agenda of education minister Prue Car. There is much to cheer about, but will she deal with deep-seated problems? Continue reading »
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In international politics, how the worm has turned for the United States
The historian of American foreign policy Gabriel Kolko would often say that those who seek to determine the destiny of humankind were in for surprises and, ultimately, disappointment. Continue reading »
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King Charles III of Australia: not my king
After the nauseating display of royal excess and dynastic exceptionalism last week, an Australian republic cannot come soon enough. Continue reading »
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Very bad advice: $368b nuclear submarines and the Federal budget
At a time when the Reserve Bank’s interest rate rise is adding to cost of living pressures and increasing the chances of a recession, Albanese is finding it hard to justify the staggering $368 billion cost of AUKUS nuclear submarines. Continue reading »
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A Kingly proposal: Letter from Julian Assange to King Charles III
To His Majesty King Charles III, On the coronation of my liege, I thought it only fitting to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to commemorate this momentous occasion by visiting your very own kingdom within a kingdom: His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh. Continue reading »
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Scotland a shining example in youth justice
As 2022 closed, WA’s main juvenile detention centre, Banksia Hill, grabbed national attention when one of its buildings was burned to the ground by rioting inmates, who scaled the fences in a stand-off with the riot squad. Continue reading »
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Will the Albanese Government revive the values that underpinned Medicare?
Or will it fiddle around the edges like the Rudd/Gillard Governments? Continue reading »
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AUKUS nuclear waste dump must be subject to Indigenous veto
Bipartisan secrecy and Defence’s poor record with Indigenous groups at Woomera are red flags for consultations over an AUKUS nuclear waste dump. Human rights experts say government must establish an Indigenous veto right. Continue reading »
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Attorney-Generals criminalising 13 year olds is a national disgrace
The lethargy in lifting the age of criminal responsibility in Australia from 10 to 14 is scandalous given the numbers of vulnerable children caught up in the brutality of the criminal justice system daily. Continue reading »
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A women-led long fight against Malaysia’s discriminatory citizenship laws
Water broke in the wee hours on the day of Headry’s flight back to her homeland Malaysia. Continue reading »
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North Korea: same old, or another ticking bomb?
Continued missile testing by North Korea invites the question, why do they do it? It’s tempting to regard it as “just what they do”, but is that all there is to it? Is it “urgent but not important”? What about the response? Continue reading »
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The coming war: Time to speak up
Silences filled with a consensus of propaganda contaminate almost everything we read, see and hear. War by media is now a key task of so-called mainstream journalism. Continue reading »
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Labor’s serial betrayal of Australia
Make no mistake, the Albanese government knows that in joining the US fight against China, Australia will be left defenceless on American withdrawal. And only a dodo could not know this risk is high. Maybe the government doesn’t appreciate that war for America is different. It is the war which matters, not the result. “Winning” Continue reading »
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Age equality: one of the great human rights issues of our time
In 2006, someone supposedly speaking for Generation Y wrote a book addressed to baby Boomers called “Please Just F* Off: It’s Our Turn Now.” The person who wrote that book in 2006 at the age of 25 is now 42. One day we will all be cast as the villains. It’s just a matter of Continue reading »
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The USA and Australia fail on climate change
Nearly two years ago relief was expressed that the USA had emerged under President Biden to offer world leadership on climate change. Sadly this leadership has been a disappointment and today both the US and other high emitters such as Australia are not on track to meet the challenge. Continue reading »